Mesa Flight Was Within 10 Feet of Runway Collision

Sept. 22 (Bloomberg) -- A Mesa Air Group Inc. flight came within 10 feet of hitting a small Cessna plane on a runway in Allentown, Pennsylvania, a U.S. board said today, citing crew estimates.

The pilots of the Mesa CRJ-700, taking off Sept. 19 for Chicago with 60 people on board, saw the Cessna on the airstrip ahead, aborted the takeoff and swerved around the aircraft, the National Transportation Safety Board said. No one was hurt.

The incident occurred at 7:45 p.m. when an air-traffic controller trainee incorrectly thought the Cessna had vacated the runway, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association said. The Mesa crew, given clearance to take off by the trainee, heard the Cessna pilot say that he had missed a taxiway turnoff as they accelerated, the NTSB said in a statement.

``We're going to be looking closely at air-traffic control's role in this,'' NTSB spokesman Peter Knudson said.

The NTSB, which investigates accidents and advocates for safety improvements, has made reducing runway near misses one of its top priorities. A U.S. House panel also plans a hearing Sept. 25 on runway safety.

The Federal Aviation Administration has tracked 23 serious instances in the year that will end Sept. 30 of planes coming too close together on runways, according to the agency's Web site. That's almost equal to the 24 for the previous federal fiscal year.

A spokesman for Phoenix-based Mesa didn't immediately return a telephone call and e-mail seeking comment.

The controller trainee cited in the air-traffic controllers' statement was certified to work in that airport tower position by himself, FAA spokeswoman Laura Brown said. The FAA is examining the incident, she said.

Cessna is a unit of Textron Inc., and Bombardier Inc. built the CRJ-700.

Fonte: Flight Safety Information 23/09/2008.